對一個人的一生影響重大的‘關鍵時刻’（Critical Moments）有哪些情形呢？讓我們回想一下那些改變了我們命運的人生瞬間吧：
對于職業(yè)白領最重要的是，你遇到大老板如何呈現(xiàn)。通常大老板沒有多少時間給小人物。而你碰巧（幸運或不幸）與他同上一個電梯，或同坐一輛車，或同乘一架飛機等等，在這種難得而短暫的時間里，你能夠口齒清晰、邏輯明了、全面準確、而且自然無雕飾地描述的工作和項目嗎？如果回答是，你的機會就更多，你會更快步入成功。
麥肯錫的“電梯法則”就是說的這種情形。你和你的團隊花費一個月的時間做完一個品牌的提案，今天是向甲方老板呈現(xiàn)匯報的日子。你和伙伴夾著厚厚的資料，提著筆記本電腦跨進電梯大門，按下20樓甲方會議室的電梯按鈕。這時你獲得消息甲方的老板因為臨時有要事，不能參加此次詞匯。但是幸運的是此時甲方老板也跨進了你們的電梯，與你同往。但不幸的是，他需要到大樓的15樓開會。此時的你深知，提案是否得到甲方認可的關鍵在于這位大老板是否認可你的提案。此時，你沒有其他的選擇，必須在電梯到達15樓之前這30秒里把你的提案講給他聽，并得到贊許，否則就意味著你一個月的辛苦泡湯，甚至丟掉這個客戶。
如果是你，你能做到嗎？
作為一個部門經(jīng)理，原來給你1小時演講時間用PPT匯報工作，但是當你開始時，老板突然告訴你，他因為臨時有事只有10分鐘給你，要求你加快速度只講關鍵要點。你能否鎮(zhèn)定自若、口齒流利、條理清晰地把原來一個小時的工作匯報用10分鐘精彩地完成呢？
作為一個銷售人員，你去找對方老總談生意，他只有從公司到機場的這段時間，你必須利用這段時間把你的東西講明白。
作為一個企業(yè)管理者，在向公眾推銷你的產(chǎn)品時，你必須在最短的時間內表述清楚你的產(chǎn)品及其核心價值。
作為一個財經(jīng)雜志編輯，你需要用最精煉的文字迅速吸引讀者的眼球和興趣，告訴他存在的風險以及解決的方法。
……
For advice on the ten minute presentation, I would suggest that you follow the section How to structure a presentation. The key part is to get the middle section working well.
Use the rule of three to get the middle section working well, and present three points that you want to make. You may want to spend the bulk of the time illustrating one or two of these points.
Think
In this survival guide we highlight the three skills that YOU MUST KNOW before your next presentation.
Essential Presentation Skills - the three things YOU MUST KNOW.
Here we expose the three essential pieces of information that can make your presentation fly. Most of these are common sense, but you'd be surprised how often they are missed out.
The Three Presentation Essentials
- Use visual aids where you can
- Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse
- The audience will only remember
three messages
OK? Want to know more? We have built a number of lessons that will take you through the whole process.
Click on this link to take you to the first of the essentials.
Presentation Skills 1. Use Visual AidsOne of the most powerful things that you can do to your presentation is to add in visual aids.Research shows that if you use visual aids you are twice as likely to achieve your objectives.
Ditch the bullet points - use pictures instead.
Use visual aids in your next presentation.
Why should you use visual aids?
1. How we take in information during a presentation
Professor Albert Mehrabian did a lot of research into how we take in information during a presentation. He concluded that 55% of the information we take in is visual and only 7% is text.
There are some important conclusions that we can take in from this information
- Use visuals (pictures, graphs, tables, props) whenever you can
- In a speech you are only using 38% of the communication medium
- Ditch the bullet points
2. Making the presentation memorable
In a Study at the Wharton Research Centre they showed that using visual slides had a dramatic effect on message retention. The effect of using visuals is truly staggering!
The old adage that "a picture is worth a thousand words" is as true today as it has always been.
3. Achieving your objectives
If I said that I could double your chances of achieving your objectives in a presentation with just one piece of advice you would probably be very skeptical. And yet if you use visual images that is just what happens.
This study by Decker Communications showed that by using visuals in your presentation you could expect roughly to double the chance of achieving your objectives. And if you are trying to make a sales presentation or a job interview presentation, this piece of advice could have a major impact on your bank balance.
The conclusion: Use visual aids
So hopefully by now you have got the message loud and clear. Use visual aids in your next presentation.
Click on this link below to take you to the second of the essentials.
>> Lesson 2. Rehearsal >>resentation Skills 2. RehearsalWe see no end of people who spend hours pouring over their bullet points but fail to rehearse properly for the presentation.The old adage is as true now as it has always been.
"If you fail to prepare, you are prepared to fail"
Rehearse your presentation and it will get better.
Sorry to sound like a bit of an old nag. It's obvious - rehearsing - isn't it? But it's also a bit of a drag and one that is easy to forget. It is probably the most common mistake of all presentations that I have seen.
You wouldn't dream of going to see a Shakespeare play at the RSC only to find that they hadn't properly learnt the script. You wouldn't dream of going to the opera to hear the band play out of time because they hadn't got round to rehearsing properly. Yet in presentations and in speeches we see this happening all the time.
The impact of inadequate rehearsal on the audience
Rehearsing could make the difference between a good and an average presentation.1. Plan to rehearse your presentation out loud at least 4 times.
We suggest that you should rehearse at least four times, and if you can get word perfect so much the better. I know that you haven't got the time, but we have seen so many presentations that have been let down due to a lack of rehearsal.
Make sure that one of your rehearsals is in front of a really scary audience - family, friends, partners, colleagues; children. They will tell you quite plainly where you are going wrong - as well as providing you with the support that you need.
2. Rehearse against the clock
If you have to give a presentation in a short period of time then try to practice your presentation against the clock. This is particularly true with something like the five minute job presentation. You can add in parts from the script or take them out to fit the time. Allow extra time in your presentation for questions and watch out for nerves - this could mean that you talk faster on the day.In the actual presentation you could take in a clock or take off your wrist watch and put it on the podium. This way you can see how the timings can develop.
3. Take a leaf out of Winston Churchill's book - memorize your script.
He is widely attributed as being one of the great speakers. It took him six weeks to prepare his Maiden Speech in the House of Commons and he learnt it word perfect.
4. Video or tape record yourself
A very simple trick that could help you with your performance is to video or tape record yourself. This will give you some immediate feedback and will enable you to fine tune your performance.Videoing a rehearsal is the staple of many presentation training companies - so why not save time and money and do it yourself?
Does it work? - Just read this bit of feedback from someone who got a new job using these techniques
"Then I practised, I think this is the key.
I practised in front of my husband, my brother in law, my 12 year old daughter.
Then my 4 year old son on the day, he wasn't impressed, he just wanted me to put the telly on.I blew their socks off!! he he
Definitely could not have done it without your help"
Rehearse and you will get better.
Click on this link below to take you to the third of the essentials.
Related pages
Presentation Skills 3. The Rule of ThreeThis is one of the oldest of all the presentation techniques - known about since the time of Aristotle.People tend to remember lists of three things. Structure your presentation around threes and it will become more memorable.
The Rule of Three - We remember three things.
The rule of three is one of the oldest in the book - Aristotle wrote about it in his book Rhetoric. Put simply it is that people tend to easily remember three things.
Remember as a kid when your mum sent you down to the shop to buy a number of things. But when you got to the shop all you could remember were three things. This is the rule of three
Odds are that people will only remember three things from your presentation
What will they be?
1. The audience are likely to remember only three things from your presentation - plan in advance what these will be.
Believe it or not, the chances are, people will only remember three things from your presentation. So before you start writing your presentation, plan what your three key messages will be. Once you have these messages, structure the main part of your presentation around these three key themes and look at how they could be better illustrated.
2. There are three parts to your presentation
The beginning, the middle and the end. Start to plan out what you will do in these three parts. The beginning is ideal for an attention grabber or for an ice breaker. The end is great to wrap things up or to end with a grand finale.
3. Use lists of three wherever you can in your presentation
Lists of three have been used from early times up to the present day. They are particularly used by politicians and advertisers who know the value of using the rule of three to sell their ideas.
Veni, Vidi, Vici (I came, I saw, I conquered) - Julius Caesar**
"Friends, Romans, Countrymen lend me your ears" - William Shakespeare
"Our priorities are Education, Education, Education" - Tony Blair
A Mars a day helps you to work, rest and play - Advertising slogan
Stop, look and listen - Public safety announcementA classic example of the rule of three was Winston Churchill's famous Blood, Sweat and Tears speech. He is widely attributed as saying I can promise you nothing but blood sweat and tears. What he actually said was "I can promise you Blood, Sweat, Toil and Tears". Because of the rule of three we simply remember it as Blood sweat and tears.
There are lots of other examples of the rule of three on this link
4. In Presentations "Less is More"
If you have four points to get across - cut one out. They won't remember it anyway. In presentations less really is more. No one ever complained of a presentation being too short.
Presentation Essentials
Three Presentation Essentials
Use visual aids where you can
Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse
The audience will only remember three messages
So there you have the presentation essentials. I suggest that you print out this little box and stick it in your work book for future reference.
So does it all work? Well it works most of the time - but don't take my word for it Read these three posts on the Forum and make up your own mind....
Good luck and happy presenting.
Related pages
** Technically the quote is - Veni (I came), Vidi (I saw) , Vici (I crushed them) which is falsely tied to Gaul and Britanny Conquest by Julius Caesar, but was prononced before the Senate after the crushing of a small revolt in what is now Turquey...
